BS: Haunted Places

Subject: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 01:51 PM

October is breathing its frosty breath down September's collar, the harvest moon looms low and pale in the sky, wind rattles the leaves in the trees. You can almost feel the slow spectral approach of Halloween.

So what are some Haunted Places you have visited? I don't necessarily mean haunted houses, graveyards, etc, but places where the sense of an unseen presence was palpable? Here's an example :

Years ago, I was on a business trip in Southeastern Colorado. It was late in the afternoon when I saw the signs for Mesa Verde, the Anasazi ruins off of Highway 160 between Durango and Cortes. Being in no real hurry, I decided to stop and see them.

The most famous ruin here is Cliff Palace, a large stone structure built just below the rimrock in a hidden canyon. It had been discovered by cowboys one hundred years ago. They were looking for strays in this remote canyon, when the setting sun fell against the cliffs in such a way as to distinguish the structures from the surrounding stone. The size and the inaccessible nature of the ruin was a wonder to them and the many archaeologists and others who have followed.

I had not realized how far into the park you had to drive to get to the Cliff Palace site, and by the time I arrived, the sun was setting and rangers were closing the long snaking trail that led down to it from the parking area above. Determined to view it anyway, I cut through the trees and boulders to intersect the trail further down. It was now utterly quiet in the canyon, and I descended, excited for my first view of the ancient structure. I also made a conscious note of this as a memorable moment, being able to view Cliff Palace alone at nightfall, and I congratulated myself on my initiative.

After several brief views of jutting cap rock below me, the trail made a sudden plunge, then climbed up into the entrance. There before me was a large and wide cave-like pocket in the cliff, filled with well-preserved buildings, a wide terrace, and several kiva openings. Excited, I made a quick tour of the structures, noted the steep plunge from the lip of the terrace, and saw the central kiva had a wooden ladder that led down into it. I quickly climbed down, squatted at the base of the ladder, took a deep breath, and absorbed the growing darkness in the place. As I sat there quietly, I became conscious of a strong sense that I wasn't alone. It became oppressive, and I climbed up out of the kiva.

Now the hollow of Cliff Palace was darkening, the angles and depths fading to black. And then it seemed I heard low murmuring, indistinguishable almost from the swaying of the pinon pines in a night breeze. It occurred to me then that the place was not a deserted ruin for me to casually examine and enjoy. With a chill down my spine, I was now convinced that this place had not just been a sacred place where people lived and died, but that it was still inhabited, perhaps only in the evening when the tourists and rangers at last left it in peace and silence. And there followed the uneasy feeling that what was there, unseen or asleep in the daytime, was gradually coming alive as the canyon sank into darkness.

I won't talk about the other things I heard, the noises that seemed to follow as I made haste back up across the rimrock to my car. I don't know what they were or what made them. But I do know this; that place is haunted.

So toss a branch on the fire and tell us if you've been in such a haunted place.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Becca72
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:01 PM

I spent one Halloween about 3 years ago in Salem, MA wandering through the graveyards and churches and such. I have no supernatural experience to share, as there were so many other people there that there was more fighting the crowds than anything. A shame, really, as I bet it would be quite an experience to wander alone in the dark there...

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:04 PM

I'm a skeptic, but seeing a dungeon cell in the old prison
in Vera Cruz, Mexico, was creepy. Same with the altars
on the temples of Chichen Itza and Tolum and Tikal,
thinking of all the human sacrifices... it was creepy.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Wesley S
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:13 PM

Alice - I'll back you up on your observation about Chichen Itza. And the game field too. It's a spooky place.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:22 PM

And the Cenote... where they three sacrificial victims in.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:28 PM

Like I said, I'm a skeptic, but I love to watch the Sci Fi channel
program, Ghost Hunters!

Years back on Mudcat I think I started a thread on this
old recording found in an old linen mill building in Ireland.
There are plenty of ghost stories about the girl who
sang Pie Jesu on the old recording found in the building
AND you can hear an mp3 of the recording here:
http://www.irelandseye.com/ghost/index.shtm
Helena Blunden, ghost story and recording of her singing.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:32 PM

typo should be "where they THREW sacrificial victims"

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:39 PM

and I can't get your link to work, Alice. But it sounds interesting.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Emma B
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:41 PM

Walking along The Ridgeway on a warm summers day we reached
Waylands Smithy
and the temperature fell so suddenly that we were shivering accompanied by an unpleasant opressive feeling shared by a couple of people.

On returning to the main trail it was once more a glorious Summer's day!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:45 PM

I'll be back later, but just wanted to let you know I fixed Alice's link. It had double "http" in it.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:47 PM

Thanks, Kat.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 02:49 PM

Em, can't get your smithy link to work.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 03:24 PM

I know of - abd gave experienced - such a place outdoors where there is not a single building. It is in the wilderness forest in the Cascade Range of Oregon.

The 'worst' spot is in a deep box canyon. At the far end of the canyon is water seepage which is now mossy green and which has formed the image of a huge bat (and no. I'm not afraid of bats), wings outspread.

I had my experience before my brother did- about a year and a half before his, in fact.

Interestingly, my brother was so alarmed he drove out of there so quickly he didn't stop to pull on the pants he had removed when he was preparing to bed down for the night. He didn't stop until he was within sight of the lights of the nearest town, 45 miles away.

Oh, yeah. There are spooky things out there.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: SINSULL
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 05:29 PM

I love Ghost Hunters but can't decide if it is for real or a giant put on. Why do they have to wander around in the dark creeping each other out when ghosts are perfectly willing to appear in broad daylight?
I was amused at the episode where Jason refused to pursue a lead from a woman who claimed that her cats saw ghosts.Sensible man.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Becca72
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 05:53 PM

Sins, it's more suspenseful in the dark...I guess that's true of a lot of things :-)

I love the one where they went to the Stanley Hotel, where Stephen King based The Shining. Now that was creepy!!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 06:04 PM

And the old ship, where there is one caretaker who keeps getting spooked by apparitions.
I think it is funny that the guy who owns TAPS is a Roto Rooter plumber! Uses his remote
pipe camera to see things in inaccessible places.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 06:11 PM

I once made and set gravestones. The only place I felt "haunted" was the local Jewish cemetery, where there was a definite feeling of "Do your work and get out, you don't belong here." My brother, who followed me in the job, told me he felt the same thing there.

Antietam Battlefield in a December fog is definitely another place to feel history. So is the machine shop at Harper's Ferry and various slave quarters.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 08:05 PM

My brother *heard* a colonial battle and saw the soldiers in Old Deerfield, Massachusetts. And, no, they weren't re-enactors.

There is an old cemetery in Berlin, CT which has a gravestone with the first name of "Jerusha" which is my youngest daughter's name. Three times I tried to take her photo beside that gravestone. Twice nothing showed up, nothing, not my daughter, the gravestone, nor the graveyard. Each time, separate trips, it felt as though we were not alone and as night fell it got kind of creepy. I told whomever we meant it no harm and generally showed as much respect as possible. The third trip, I got a beautiful photo of my daughter with the ancient gravestone. Gave thanks and went on our way. There are many old New England graveyards which feel that way, but that's the only time my photos were blank.

LeeJ, I've been to Mesa Verde and Cliff House. I can well imagine what you described! Should've had some corn meal and tobacco to offer.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Sorcha
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 08:17 PM

There is a lake near Santa Rosa New Mexico called Hidden Lake. It's on private property and I can't find any pics of it, but we had to park and walk in a ways. The trail in is in a narrow canyon with pictographs on the walls.

I felt strange all the way in, but when I emerged from the canyon to see the lake, I just creeped out. I looked at Dad, he looked at me, and we both said, Let's get OUT of here! My mom and my husband both thought we were nuts. They didn't feel a thing, but Dad and I sure did!

Then there was the execution ground at Kilmainham Jail......eerie feelings there too.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Bert
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 08:53 PM

Lidice in the Czech Republic.

Just a rose garden that marks the spot where they burned the bodies and a museum which didn't have an awful lot in it. Just a pice of soap that one guy had in his pocket. The heel of another guy's boot. Little things like that. It was all that they could find in the ashes.

I can still feel it just thinking about it.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 09:36 PM

At a slumber party when I was in HS, I told them all a fake story about a "haunting experience" I'd "had." They were all convinced the area I described was haunted-- I doubt it was-- but it's amazing how genuine it all seemed to them. I had only been joking, not trying to trick them, but they were so immediately willling to be haunted I didn't have the heart to deprive them of it! :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Sep 07 - 10:14 PM

What I am genuinely curious about is: What kinds of experience since World War Two have the Nazi/German people had? Many of them, unavoidably, were below 30- what kind of life have they had? What kinds of dreams? What places that they had to accept as being 'haunted'?

For a number of years I dated a German national and he didn't seem too bowed down with care. But this was in the US.

For years I read everything I could find about the war and life before, during and after it, with the emphasis on after. Eventually I got a pretty good picture of most of it but I still have never read anything definitive by a German about the ensuing 10 years.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 01:57 AM

Gettysburg is definitely on my list.

For those who haven't been there, the battlefield, with it's numerous markers, statues, and monuments, resembles a graveyard that sprawls across hills, meadows, and forest. We spent an entire day there, and managed to visit all of the historic spots including the Seminary Ridge, Cemetery Ridge, and the site of Pickett's Charge. In the bright light of a March day, I suppose I was just too fascinated with the history to get a sense of the eeriness of the place. This crept upon me by slow degrees.

It is impossible to look down from the Union positions on Little Round Top and not feel a shiver as you view the exposed positions that surround its base, where men died in heaps in a futile attempt to gain the heights. Likewise, one cannot stand at the tree line where Pickett's men set out on their long assault without seeing the impossible distance to the clump of trees that was their objective.

Before leaving, we wanted to visit the National Cemetery there where so many who died in the battle are buried. We reached the gates after they had been closed to visitors but again, as at Mesa Verde, we found a way in. Any graveyard has a somber tone, especially one visited at night. Add to this the spires and anguished stone figures that are outlined against the night sky there at Gettysburg, and you may imagine how moving shadows at the corners of one's vision, and unexpected furtive sounds may add to a growing feeling of unease. I took a picture of Janan in front of the National Memorial Monument, and then suggested we leave. As we made our way to the opening near the gate, I noticed a wide vista of soldier's graves that faded off into darkness. I pointed my camera into the darkness and snapped two shots.

When I uploaded the digital pictures, we were both speechless. In the picture at the Memorial, Janan is surrounded by faint globes of light of different sizes, some in the foreground, others behind the structure. The other two shots were also full of these same objects, what some call spirit orbs.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Phot
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 05:32 AM

Our office here at HMS Excellent, in Portsmouth gives me the creeps.

I was working late last night and just couldn't get over the feeling that someone else was in the building with me, I kept catching things just at the edge of my vision, also one of our workstations which is a Mac G4 started making random sounds despite being shut down! Talking with one of the other phots this morning, she mentioned she gets the same feelings.

It would be interesting to know what was on this piece of land before the current building.

Wassail!! Chris.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: The PA
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:24 AM

Our cottage.

When we moved in our two cats would go nowhere near one corner of the room, and suddenly fly out of the building for no reason, hair standing on end. We could smell cigarettes, bacon cooking (we neither smoke nor eat meat). The lights switch on and off for no reason. We have had every electrical professional in to check out the supply - no problems. And you always have the feeling you are not alone.
20 years ago during our first Christmas when asked how we were settling in I related these things to our neighbours. They told us of the elderly lady who had died there. Her bed was downstairs, where our cats freaked out, she smoked like a chimney, lived on bacon sandwiches and had a real fear of electricity.

Its not a scary feeling, when we've carried out renovations to the cottage we always ask her what she thinks of them - thank goodness she's never answered me !!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:28 AM

Then there was the period in my life where nightly "hauntings" just about drove me crazy. I certainly was acting like a crazy person. The "information" about the "ghost" in question turned out to be amazingly identical to the person who tried to molest me in early childhood who had lived in our building and used to hide in our apartment at night in wait of little girls getting up to go to the bathroom. As soon as I got to work on that in counseling, guess what-- the ghost apparently decided to go "haunt" somewhere else.

Or was it all SAD-delusionality? Did any of that happen in the spring or summer, or was it all in the dark of winter? If it DID happen, in mid-winter, was it my delusion that it happened.... or a perpetrator's winter delusional acting out? It's so confusing! :~)

I have no doubt that hauntings do occur, but IMO our human experience of them is so subjective that I think our curiosity drives us to accept a lot of untrue premises.

Me, I just think life is interesting, and that living life includes wondering about a lot of things.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: The PA
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:33 AM

Just read Katlaughing's post re her brother.

My brother when to Edgehill, where the English civil war battle took place, I think in late October. A group of them were there at midnight on the aniversary of the battle and they swore they could hear shouts and the noise of battle and horses.
I'd love to go but he wont go there again.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:36 AM

In December 1968 I was at Ft. Carson, Colorado. One morning at 2 a.m. we were painting set in the post theater, putting the finishing touches on the flats and in general getting the place ready for final dress the next -- that -- night. We'd been listening to Phil Ochs, by the way -- someone had bought the tape at the PX.

Anyway, two Military Policemen walked into the back of the theater as we were taking a break. We called to them, asking them if they wanted some coffee, but they never answered and left.

It was a little later were I realized that a) my MP company was on duty that night and b) I didn't recognize either of them and c) they were wearing summer khaki uniforms instead of the Class A "Greens" they should have been wearing in December and d) their uniforms were of Korean War vintage!

There were about a dozen of us who saw this. Later, Vic, the civilian Special Services manager, told us that he'd often see the two MPs in the building at night. Other than that neither he nor anyone else knew anything about them.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: RangerSteve
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 02:28 PM

My friend was house-sitting for his cousin in Morristown, NJ. The house has been added on to over the years, but the original section dates back to the 1700's. One night, during a storm with rain and heavy wind, he heard doors slamming upstairs. On another night, he was in the living room watching TV when a ghost appeared. It was kind of fuzzy, so he couldn't really describe it. The ghost asked my friend what he was doing there. My friend explained the situation and the ghost was satisfied with the answer. They had a short conversation in which my friend learned that the ghosts name was John. He saw him again on another night, but hasn't been back at night since then. I trust my friend. He doesn't usually see things that aren't there and he's pretty level headed.

At Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ, there's an old railroad terminal. One night, after the park had been closed for the evening, the park historian was in the waiting room, and saw a woman in Victorian dress on one of the balconies that run along three sides of the waiting room about two stories up. She asked the woman if she could help her, but the woman just walked away and dissappeared. (the historian no longer works there, so don't go there trying to verify this story).

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 03:12 PM

In 2000, I took a long motorcycle ride that brought me to Ft Sumner New Mexico. I knew this as the place where Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Pat Garrett. What I didn't know was that there had been no town of Ft Sumner when Billy was shot there, but only structures remaining from the time twenty years before when it had served as a concentration camp for Navajos and Apaches who had been sent there at the beginning of the Civil War. This area is call Bosque Redondo by the tribes.
They were rounded up and marched there, many losing their lives along the way. After arriving, they were forced to build adobe structures and plant crops along the river to feed themselves and the troops stationed there. Hundreds died farming the bottomland in a drought that stretched into a year. After the War ended, the survivors were allowed to return to their tribal lands. The buildings stood vacant until the 1870s, when a friend of Billy Bonney took over and ranched the Bosque Redondo. Billy was seeking asylum there when Garrett caught up with him. When Billy left the room he was sleeping in to go relieve himself, Garrett entered and waited for him to return. As Billy re-entered Garrett stood and cocked his revolver. Billy paused, said "quien es?"(who is it?), and was shot by Garrett.
Some years later, a flood washed all of the buildings away, and the Bosque Redondo was left looking as it had before man had come to it, a beautiful spot in a loop of the Pecos River. Later, the town grew up just north of it.
I had visited the museum and grave of Billy, and then took a walking tour of what had been the camp. Among the national park information plaques, I noticed a small meadow by the river where a medicine ring had been set up, a center staff hung with herbs, medicine bundles,and eagle feathers, surrounded by circle of stones. A sign said that this was a spot where US Government officials and members of the Apache and Navajo Nations had gathered, and where tribal medicine men had made offerings to "bring peace and rest to the souls of those who had died tragically here."
I walked back to the information center and walked up to the Men's Room door. As I pushed it open, I heard the rush of water into a sink coming from around the corner. As I rounded it, I heard the water shut off and observed that there was no one there. The remnant of small trickle of water ran into the drain as I watched.
When I walked out, I asked the ranger if anyone had ever said the place was haunted. He smiled and I told him what had happened. He remarked that yes, so many strange things happened on a daily basis that it had become commonplace for him to hear footsteps, thuds and thumps, doors opening or closing. In fact, he said, although there was an area used for camping along the river, he had often witnessed people breaking camp shortly after nightfall, and rarely saw anyone left in the campground when he came in at 6 am. Many of these campers reported "babbling" voices that disturbed their rest, he said.
Before leaving, I took a short walk to the sight of the building where Billy had been shot and looked out across the beautiful river valley, the site of so much tragedy, and it seemed right for me to say aloud "quien es?"

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Bee
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:03 PM

Lonesome EJ, you are a good storyteller. I could see the place.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: SINSULL
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:29 PM

I strongly suspect that a hundred years from now scientists will amusingly relate our misconception of XYZ comparing it to the belief that the earth is round and also the center of the universe. I know the "paranormal" exists and I too have had experiences. But someday it will be explained and probably turned to a profit. For now, I don't understand people who ridicule the experiences of grounded, rational folks with no hidden agenda.

A TV show recounted the strange experience of two teachers who took an elevator to the basement of a college school building. When the door opened they were faced with the horrific scene of wounded men screaming in pain and a doctor telling them to come help.
The whole thing sounded like a bad trip and I took it with a grain of salt until my niece had one of the women as a professor. She said that this woman was totally rational and somewhat intimidating. A brilliant teacher. A totally rational woman. She saw something as have I.

My own current theory revolves around the artificiality of time and our lack of understanding of it. Just a thought. BUT I am troubled by the lack of "contact" with the future which would exist if time were the basis.

I'll go get another glass of wine now...

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alice
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 09:52 PM

A friend of mine who grew up in the same town I did, Helena, Montana, lived in a house
where he and his family had unexplained experiences. Helena is a state capitol and
in 1888 had more millionaires per capita than any other town in the US. It is the
site of Last Chance Gulch, where four Virginians who had come west for gold found
the motherlode. My friend's family lived in an old mansion, one of many
large mansions built in Helena in the late 1800's.

Sometimes they would hear the sound of footsteps on the second floor when
no one was on that level, but the most dramatic event involved the cellar basement.
Sitting in the kitchen, the family heard the sound of a shovel digging in the
cellar. My friend was in grade school at the time, and his father decided it would
"make a man of him" for the boy to go down to the cellar first. While the digging
sound continued, they opened the door and he went down the stairs. When
he got to the bottom, the sound stopped. There was no one there. What a cruel thing
for an adult to do to a kid.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 02:40 AM

Sounds like the old man lacked the guts to go down there himself!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 03:14 AM

My last cottage was definitely odd.

The thing is, you can have experiences yourself that you dismiss - it's when other people have them that you begin to give them some credibility.

There was the time the door slammed downstairs and someone came running up the stairs hell for leather - but there was no one there. There was the man's voice humming in the sitting room, and the little cat I saw cleaning itself on one of the chairs (we don't have a cat - one of my friends saw it again at a later date), and the old woman walking from the kitchen to the sitting room that was seen by my father-in-law and one of my friends (separate occasions) - and the time I got home to find my babysitter absolutely terrified, telling me she'd been hearing people walking around in my bedroom, opening and closing drawers, and soemone had opened my daughter's bedroom door, waking her up...

When I walked in that night, the babysitter said to me, "You are not going to BELIEVE what's been going on in this house tonight." And from the look on her face, I said, "Oh, I think I will..." Needless to say, she never babysat again.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Bee
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 08:12 AM

Perhaps some places have some kind of memory.

The churchyard up the road from my place has been a burying ground for over 200 years. Back in the fifties, two local men were up doing some work in the church. As they were leaving, after dark, they noticed a light coming up the road. They watched it go past the church driveway a ways, where it turned into a lane, then it came back out, back down the road, and into the church driveway, where it winked out. Later, they described the experience to an old local man, who told them that back when the hearse was horse drawn, the churchyard gate configuration had made it necessary for the driver to turn around in a lane up the road before coming back down and into the churchyard proper.

But: some spooky stories are explainable. I lived in a hundred year old house for a few years. The house faces pretty much southwest, and the sun heats the front well during the day. After I left, another woman moved in. One day in winter, she was visiting me and we were talking about how nice the old place is. "But", I said, "have you noticed the creaking of the rafters on cold nights? After sunset, the house starts to cool, and it's already cooler at the back. The first rafter at the front creaks, that affects the next one, which creaks, and so on. Sounds exactly like footsteps, someone walking from the front of the house to the back upstairs." Her face lit up. "Oh lord, I thought it was really a ghost! I never thought of the rafters creaking that way! I've been scared to spend an evening alone!"

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: GUEST,The black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 08:19 AM

Is it that some people attract such experiences?
My late first wife was very sensitive to the feel of a place and so were much of her family, too many tales to tell of visits from dead relatives, warnings, sudden drops in temperature, rocking flagstones etc.
When with her I had many of the same experiences, but very few since. Our daughter has decided to be a witch, but I'm not convinced that she has inherited the gift to the same degree.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 09:31 AM

My brother spent the night at a friend's place, and as sometimes happens the beer he'd consumed decided at 2 a.m. that it needed to leave him. On the way back from the toilet he noticed a shadow on the wall of the hallway that looked for all the world like his friend's late father's profile.

Bro didn't think much of it and mentioned it at breakfast the next day. "Oh," said the friend, "come here. I want to show you something."

There was no light source in the hall from which a shadow could be cast. None. A window at the other end of the hall cast the only light, and that went straight down the empty hallway.

The friend explained that they'd seen the shadow before, in other parts of the house. They figured that Dad was just keeping an eye on them.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Alba
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 09:50 AM

For me one of the most haunted places I have been to is 'The Imperial War Museum' in London which is housed within what was fomerly 'Bedlam (Lunatic) Asylum'
I only found out after my "experiences"there that the site was where Bedlam had been. It explained a lot. A lot.

Great experiences Folks. I will get back to this Thread when I have more time.
Thanks for sharing your stories,
Best Wishes
Jude

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 12:14 PM

When I was a child I was often caught talking to what other people would say were imaginary friends...I can't really remember. I do remember the night my grandfather died. I was in bed and I woke up to find him sat on the end of the bed. I wasn't scared, just thought he'd come over for a visit. He smiled, patted my leg and disappeared. The next morning we got the phone call to say that he passed away.

We did our Equinox Ritual last week and as we had finished calling the quarters and blessing the elements I was aware of a male figure standing behind the person standing opposite me. I dismissed it as a nosey spirit and because they didn't feel harmful or menacing I didn't think any more of it for the rest of the ritual. We continued with what we were doing....a celebration of Harvest Home. As soon as we had finished dismissing the quarters and the circle has been opened Harry let out a loud cry over the baby monitor. Both Paul and I ran up the stairs to make sure he was ok and we both saw a male figure looking into the cot. He then disappeared. Harry went back to sleep in seconds no problems.

At the beginning of August Harry's Grandad passed away. We had some warm weather and I had the bedroom windows open to get some air into the room and cool it down a bit. I would wake up in the night to find that all the windows had been shut. I asked Paul if he had shut the windows and he said no. I put it down to me possibly sleep walking (I haven't done it since I was a kid though!) However it continued to happen every night for a week so I gave in a shut the windows myself before we all went to bed. Harry's Grandad was always asking "How the little fell" was and was always concerned that he should be warm enough. We would like to think that Harry's Grandad is popping in from time to time to check up on his Grandson.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 04:29 PM

Happy Halloween!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 05:15 PM

So far, no one has mentioned Culloden Moor.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Anne Lister
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 05:39 PM

Oh, boy - don't get me started!
My husband works at what is reputedly one of Wales' most haunted houses and is tomorrow night leading a ghost tour. He is probably one of the most sceptical people around as to whether there are such things, however, but because he's an actor he can make people very jumpy just by the way he delivers his information.
However, a few years back he was working (with his more usual "hat" on) with a group of historical interpreters (NB: NOT re-enactors!) at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. They were showing the arrival of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, being welcomed by the Earl of Newcastle (then the owner of the castle). I had nothing much to do for a while and went to look at the tower the Earl had spent a small fortune on at the time - he'd put in some very fine wood panelling. I was puzzled by the fact that although there were signs everywhere saying "No Smoking" that there was a very strong scent of pipe tobacco around, and it was still more puzzling as I was the first visitor of the day. Didn't think too much more about it, but at the end of the day when the punters had all gone home and we were packing up, all of a sudden all the fire alarms went off in the tower. The Fire Brigade arrived but couldn't find any smoke or flames and went off a bit disgruntled.
Next day again mooching about while the actors were busy I went into the main display area, full of information about the history of the castle. There was a sign that said "Watch out for the ghost of the Earl of Newcastle. You can tell he's about by the strong smell of pipe tobacco."
I still think it was his sense of mischief that triggered the fire alarms in the tower ...

Anne
and there are a lot more stories where that one came from!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 06:11 PM

Sorcha
That was a tease. C'mon and tell it!

And Anne. We'd love to hear some more.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 08:15 PM

Have you seen this?

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 08:04 AM

Naseby battle site is a mullardi (haunted) old place.

A few years ago My family (My beloved wife, my cherished [step]daughter and I) holidayed in Western Scotland.

On a beautiful hot summer's day - just the weather for Scots Midge Command to mobilise - we visited Glencoe. As we parked up the sun went in. All of us felt uneasy.

My daughter, who is not particularly 'psychic' said 'Can anyone hear someone crying ?'

We looked at each other, got back in the car and went.

As we turned on to Rannoch Moor the sun came out.

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Desdemona
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 02:13 PM

I stayed (on 2 separate occasions, just to be "sure") in a room at Thornbury castle in Glos that was *definitely* haunted. Even my former husband, who is a complete dyed in the wool sceptic, was convinced...it wasn't that we saw or heard anything, but there was just a FEELING about the place. We experienced it separately, as well, since whenever I couldn't sleep becaise of it he was out cold, and vice versa, and yet we each felt we hadn't slept a wink. Weird.

~D

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: GUEST,Bruce Michael Baillie
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 02:12 AM

...There are no haunted houses, only haunted people!

Subject: RE: BS: Haunted Places
From: Anne Lister
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 04:18 AM

Sorry, Bruce, but that's a very silly comment, made by someone who obviously hasn't experienced what some of us here have. Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean that it won't, or that it doesn't happen to others.
I've been working in prisons over the past year, running a storytelling workshop, and one of the activities is to tell a story about your own life. I've been very struck by how many prisons appear to be haunted - the stories tend to come from people who had never believed in ghosts before, but they've had experiences which can only be explained by ghosts. For example, the women in a women's prison who have seen a child, or a man in their cells. These stories weren't told for effect, but out of puzzlement.

One other story - I worked in a school in London once, one of those large Victorian buildings on several floors. The staff told me about a staff meeting they'd had one evening, when all the children had gone home. As they sat in the staffroom they heard someone go up the stairs, walk across the floor above them and start to play a piano. Then the music stopped. All very well, except that the stairs in question only led (these days at least) to the staff washrooms and there was no way to walk "above" the staffroom - and there was no piano.

Anne